Latest news with #CombatAntisemitismMovement
Memri
07-08-2025
- Politics
- Memri
Gab AI's X Account Permanently Suspended For Antisemitic Hate Speech; User Suggests Ways for Gab AI To Circumvent X's Antisemitism Policies
On August 1, 2025, the CEO of Gab CEO posted a screenshot of Gab AI's X (formerly Twitter) account which showed the account had been suspended. According to a user's query to Gab AI, the account was suspended following its publication of a post claiming the Anti-Defamation League's latest hate speech report cited online incidents of antisemitism as 82% of its total count of antisemitic incidents. Neo-Nazis on X objected to Gab AI's suspension, calling it a violation of the First Amendment's freedom of speech protection, blaming a recent report on Artificial Intelligence (AI) from the Combat Antisemitism Movement, and suggesting ways for the AI to circumvent antisemitism guidelines on X. This report will review neo-Nazis' reactions to Gab AI's suspension. YOU MUST BE SUBSCRIBED TO THE MEMRI DOMESTIC TERRORISM THREAT MONITOR (DTTM) TO READ THE FULL REPORT. GOVERNMENT AND MEDIA CAN REQUEST A COPY BY WRITING TO DTTMSUBS@ WITH THE REPORT TITLE IN THE SUBJECT LINE. PLEASE INCLUDE FULL ORGANIZATIONAL DETAILS AND AN OFFICIAL EMAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR REQUEST. NOTE: WE ARE ABLE TO PROVIDE A COPY ONLY TO MEMBERS OF GOVERNMENT, LAW ENFORCEMENT, MEDIA, AND ACADEMIA, AND TO SUBSCRIBERS; IF YOU DO NOT MEET THESE CRITERIA PLEASE DO NOT REQUEST. Gab CEO Announces Gab AI's Suspension On X The CEO of Gab published a post on August 1, 2025, on X announcing X's suspension of the Gab AI account. He captioned the post: "We're looking into this and have reached out to the X support team. In the meantime you can continue using Gab AI in the main dashboard here: Please support our efforts to build this great product by upgrading to Gab AI Plus. Thank you for your attention to this matter." Four days later, on August 5, he published an update on Gab AI's X suspension. The post stated that he had "not heard a single word back from X on this [suspension] even after backchanneling through three different teams on their [X's] end." He also complained that Gab spends "five figures a month" on X, and as such should not be treated this way. He concluded that X was uncooperative because: "Gab AI is a serious threat and a very real competitor in the AI space," which is why X lets "the @AskPerplexity bot and many others here and don't care." Neo-Nazis On X React To Gab AI's Suspension A neo-Nazi X user published a post on August 4, 2025 that also claimed X had suspended Gab AI's account because "Gab was absolutely dragging Grok, that's why lol." Another neo-Nazi X user reacted to Gab's CEO's post on August 1 claiming that the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) was responsible for Gab AI being banned on X. The neo-Nazi account posted a screenshot from CAM's website that called for "tech companies, regulators, and civil society" to support and enact "banning explicitly bigoted systems like Gab AI from mainstream platforms."
New York Post
12-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
How GOP governors are leading the charge against antisemitism — and for civil rights
The heartless execution of a young couple outside Washington's Capital Jewish Museum. The terrorist who used a makeshift flamethrower and Molotov cocktails to injure elderly pro-Israel rally-goers in Boulder, Colo. The arson attack on the home of Pennsylvania's Jewish governor. These headlines, and many others in recent weeks, brought home a growing threat we governors have been tracking with great alarm: A new generation of Americans has been conditioned to hate Jews with an intense bigotry experienced by no other minority group. It's time for leaders of conscience to draw a bright line, translating rhetoric into robust action to protect all members of the Jewish community from the scourge of antisemitism. Advertisement How did we arrive at today's disturbing reality — where our nation's small Jewish population endures 68% of all religion-based hate crimes? Jews have long been a convenient scapegoat for extremists of all stripes, but today antisemitism has become an elite phenomenon, erupting with particular vehemence on college and university campuses. Antisemitic incidents across the United States spiked by over 600% since September 2023, a recent Combat Antisemitism Movement study found, with most of the increase coming on college campuses. Advertisement Students are not born bigoted. Someone is teaching them to hate. Indeed, some teachers have exploited their privileged positions at the front of the classroom to propagandize and manipulate the impressionable young minds in their care. Meanwhile, many school administrators have lacked the intellectual and moral clarity to forcefully counter the antisemitism spilling out into the quad and amplified on social media. College officials who set aside 'safe spaces' and promoted narrow campus speech codes to prevent 'micro-aggressions' and 'triggers' hypocritically dropped those standards when Jewish students found themselves blocked from classrooms and libraries (or, as at Cooper Union College, trapped within one as a mob raged outside). Advertisement Bigotry that would have been instantly and rightly crushed had it targeted other minorities was instead condoned — and even sometimes celebrated. Let us be clear: No student should face threats in the classroom or on campus, nor feel targeted because of their religion or heritage. All bigotry, religious, ethnic, racial or otherwise, is wrong, absolutely un-American, and cannot be tolerated. Advertisement As governors, we are responsible for the safety of our constituents, especially students in our schools. To fight the rising tide of hatred, we have all signed executive orders and legislation in recent months to combat antisemitism. Our directives require public schools to tackle antisemitism in the same manner as any other form of discrimination prohibited by state or federal law. To help confused school officials, we require student codes of conduct to clearly define antisemitism via the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance standard, and mandate protections guaranteed under Title VI of the 1965 Civil Rights Act. Tennessee, Arkansas and Oklahoma now designate a Title VI coordinator to monitor, review and investigate antisemitic complaints and incidents of discrimination in public K–12 and post-secondary schools. Similarly, Virginia established a cross-government and stakeholder work group to carry out these same responsibilities. The group submits an annual report clearly documenting any antisemitic incidents in the state, ensuring that those affected can pursue the justice they deserve. Currently, we are each creating or strengthening statewide oversight mechanisms to ensure all reported antisemitic incidents are investigated and remedied. Accountability reassures victims that their complaints will be met with a vigorous response. Advertisement We are also incorporating and deepening education on antisemitism and Jewish-American history into our K-12 and higher ed classes — desperately needed, as surveys indicate declining knowledge about the Holocaust among American students. We have come to see the struggle against antisemitism as a pillar of American civil rights. Just as racial reactionaries once disingenuously invoked 'states' rights' and 'majority rule' to impede progress, leftists today cynically and disingenuously invoke 'free speech' to justify the deliberate intimidation of Jewish students — a disturbing echo of attempts to drive black students from campuses even after the law compelled desegregation. Advertisement We believe in free speech, but the First Amendment does not protect acts of violence or threats of physical harm. Yet standing up to bigotry takes courage. Too many school leaders — and state leaders, too — have become paralyzed by the politicization of antisemitism across our society. We, however, are proud to champion this fight, the civil rights movement of our time, and we call upon governors and state legislators across the country to join us. Advertisement Taking firm action against antisemitism can unite all citizens of good will in a righteous effort to restore the American promise for a new generation. Bill Lee, Sarah Sanders, Kevin Stitt and Glenn Youngkin are the Republican governors of Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Virginia.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
How much has antisemitic violence risen in the U.S. and globally?
This weekend's attack in Boulder, Colorado by a man shouting 'Free Palestine' and throwing molotov cocktails comes 10 days after two Israeli embassy staffers were killed by a man who yelled the same thing after shooting them, reloading, and firing more at the woman who tried to crawl away. Earlier this spring, a pro-Palestinian activist also threw molotov cocktails into the home of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who he had planned to attack with a hammer. A statistical picture of antisemitic violence from 2025 so far isn't available. But what we know from 2024 is enough cause for concern. Since the October 7th, 2023 massacre in Israel sparked a brutal battle between Hamas and Israel, available metrics nationally and globally show the same pattern: Within the U.S., the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reports a 'massive spike' in antisemitic incidents over the last two years, with numbers 'exceeding any other annual tally in the past 46 years.' They report 2024 as the 'fourth year in a row that antisemitic incidents increased and broke the previous all-time high.' For instance, FBI data in the fall showed that anti-Jewish hate crimes had increased by 63% since 2023. Looking internationally, Combat Antisemitism Movement likewise reports 'an unprecedented rise in global antisemitism' - with a surprising 107.7% increase in incidents tracked by their Antisemitism Research Center compared to 2023, which had already experienced a 'record-breaking 58.6% increase over 2022.' The Combat Antisemitism Movement calls this the 'most severe wave of antisemitism since the end of the Second World War.' This mounting hostility is often attributed to emotions generated by the conflict in Israel, which began with public outrage towards Hamas' vicious attacks on Israeli Jews - but has shifted over time towards frustrations at Israeli war tactics that have wreaked devastation upon Palestinian homes, families and children. The influence of the war has been significant, but it can be overstated when it comes to the influence on worsening antisemitism. For instance, most countries with large Jewish minorities saw measurable increases in antisemitic hostility in the year preceding the 2023 Hamas attacks. Nonetheless, the war's huge relevance highlights one of the major concerns about data tracking - namely, whether incidents of critique against Israel are being counted as antisemitic in a way that would inflate the numbers. The Anti-Defamation League reports that it 'does not include criticism of Israel' in their incident data - and has insisted elsewhere that they are 'careful not to conflate general criticism of Israel or anti-Israel activism with antisemitism.' But the organization draws a line when public rhetoric rises to the level of justifying the Hamas attacks or calls for the destruction of Israel. Since October 7th, the Anti-Defamation League now counts as antisemitism 'rallies that include support for Hamas or justify its attacks, calls to 'globalize the intifada' or 'by all means necessary,' and expressions of anti-Zionism such as the phrases 'Zionism is terrorism,' or 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.'' Critics of the ADL methodology still argue that the organization is too quick to classify legitimate critique of Israel as antisemitic. In a reanalysis of the 2024 ADL report by the magazine Jewish Currents, they pointed to over a thousand incidents they believe were 'misclassified as antisemitic' in the 2024 ADL report—all of which were 'cases of speech critical of Israel or Zionism.' For instance, they ask whether it was justified to label as antisemitic phrases such as 'respect existence or expect resistance' and 'when people are occupied, resistance is justified,' which were flagged 56 times in a 2023 report. Whereas antisemitic hostility has historically been associated with the far-right, recent years have found far-left hostility towards Jews surging. According to the Antisemitism Research Center, just over 68% of incidents recorded globally in 2024 (4,329 of 6,326) were linked to far-left ideology - which they now call 'the dominant ideological camp of antisemitic incidents.' However, far-right incidents stand out as 'slightly more likely' to involve violence compared to far-left incidents, which tends towards aggressive speech. That includes language such as 'settler-colonialism,' 'Israeli apartheid,' and 'genocide' - reflecting what the Combat Antisemitism Movement describes as 'leveraging anticolonial narratives, certain critical theories, and anti-Zionist propaganda to fuel hostility toward the Jewish state and Jewish communities worldwide.' Marc Soloway, a rabbi in Boulder, Colorado, wrote earlier this year in an open letter to the city council: 'Jews in America have mostly felt the threats of antisemitism from the far right in the form of White Supremacy, yet now many of us have experienced hatred, bigotry and intolerance from progressives, those who many of us have considered friends and allies.' The Antisemitism Research Center reports that 96.4% (4,174 of 4,329) of left-wing antisemitic incidents recorded in 2024 across the world manifested as Israel-related and/or anti-Zionist antisemitism. According to the ADL, a majority (58%) of antisemitic incidents in the U.S. during the same year contained elements related to Israel or Zionism - especially associated with anti-Israel protests. Part of the confusion boils down to competing debates over what qualifies as antisemitism. The Anti-Defamation League relies on the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) definition - which emphasizes antisemitism as a 'certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews' - manifest in both 'rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism.' Some have expressed concern that this definition may be overly broad, allowing legitimate criticisms of Israel or Zionism to be classified as antisemitism - comparable to reasonable differences in perspective about LGBT issues all being classified as 'homophobic.' Others advocate for the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism (JDA), which emphasizes 'discrimination, prejudice, hostility or violence against Jews as Jews (or Jewish institutions as Jewish).' This alternative was created by scholars to more narrowly and tightly define antisemitism in a way that more clearly excludes strong critiques of Zionism. There are three main categories of antisemitic aggression tracked by ADL and other organizations: (1) harassment directed at individual Jews or Jewish institutions (2) vandalism of Jewish institutions, including Jewish cemeteries and (3) the attempt to physically harm Jews due to antisemitic hatred. Across the world, the majority of antisemitic incidents according to the Antisemitism Research Center involved some kind of verbal attack - including 74% (1,898 of 2,553) of incidents recorded in the United States and 81% (1,555 of 1,916) of incidents in Western Europe. In total, 78% of the 2024 antisemitic incidents around the world (4,907 of 6,326) centered on verbal attacks. The remaining incidents were more physical, with 13% (822 of 6,326) involving vandalism and just over 9% (597 of 6,326) involving physical violence or threats. In the United States, physical assaults according to the ADL increased by 21% in 2024 to 196 incidents that harmed 250 victims. U.S. antisemitic vandalism increased by 20% in 2024 to 2,606 incidents. Similar to global trends, the majority of antisemitic incidents in the U.S. involved verbal harassment, including 6,552 incidents. There is good reason to believe these numbers substantially undercount the real figures, though, since only an estimated 66% of hate speech gets reported to law enforcement, with 78% of agencies reporting their numbers to the FBI (and 79% of cities claiming there were 'zero hate crimes in their city.') 'If current trends continue,' warned professor Uriya Shavit last year, Head of The Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry, the curtain will descend on the ability to lead Jewish lives in the West – to wear a Star of David, attend synagogues and community centers, send kids to Jewish schools, frequent a Jewish club on campus, or speak Hebrew.' Shavit added: 'With bomb threats against synagogues becoming a daily occurrence, Jewish existence in the West is forced to fortify itself, and the more it does so, the more the sense of security and normalcy is undermined.' A U.S. News poll last year shows two-thirds of students enrolled at elite U.S. schools saying antisemitism was a problem on their campus. And a fall survey of adult Jews in the U.S. by the American Jewish Committee likewise found 93 percent of respondents saying antisemitism was at least somewhat of a problem, and about the same number expressing a belief that it had increased in recent years. In an analysis of the Colorado attack, Georgetown University professor Bruce Hoffman highlights the even larger context where 'violence against all faiths is rising.' He cites the Council on American-Islamic Relations' report of historic numbers of anti-Muslim and anti-Arab incidents - along with CatholicVote finding hundreds of instances of vandalism in the U.S since 2020, including more serious attacks on Catholic churches. 'To stop it,' Hoffman argues about any such violence against people of faith, 'our society must take more seriously not just bomb throwing, but the messages that light the fuse.'
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Gov. Glenn Youngkin expands efforts to combat antisemitism at schools
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — On Monday, Governor Glenn Youngkin issued Executive Order 48 to expand his efforts to combat antisemitism at Virginia public schools and institutions of higher education. This comes after surveys conducted by the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) found an increase in antisemitism incidents in schools after the terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023 that led to the Israel-Hamas war, which is still ongoing. Netanyahu says there is 'no way' Israel halts the war in Gaza until Hamas is defeated Governor Glenn Youngkin said in part, 'No one should be unsafe in the classroom or on campus or feel targeted because of their religion or heritage.' The Secretary of Education, the Virginia Department of Education and the State Council of Higher Education of Virginia has been ordered to develop resources that will help local school divisions to prevent, track, report and follow up on antisemitic and anti-religious bigotry incidents. In addition, school SOLs will now include Judaism, Jewish history and Holocaust awareness, and law enforcement throughout the Commonwealth will be trained for antisemitism awareness. The full executive order can be viewed below: EO-48-FINALDownload Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
